A Legend is Born 2
by FireStallion
Summary: Book 2: It's been two years, and Jaden is finally settling in to what could be considered normal. But with the arrival of new visitors, could they spell disaster or be the chance to finally go home? On hiatus until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

**Two years later**

_Foliage rushed by in a blur of green as I ran through the forest. I knew it was close, that it was catching up to me. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it couldn't be good. My instincts told me to get away, it means you harm. I clutched my bow in my hand as I ran, waiting for the opportune time to turn and dispatch the creature chasing me. I could see the small clearing several feet away and pulled an arrow from my back quiver. In one swift motion, I turned around and had my arrow loaded and drawn back, ready to end the chase. But when I turned, there was nothing there, not even a sound of a pursuer. I looked left and right searching for any signs of it. A snap from behind caused me to jerk and release the arrow in the direction of the sound. _

_The arrow flew out into the dense woods never to be seen again as I stared on at what had made the noise. It had caught me so off guard that I tripped over myself and landed on the ground. The figure before me was one I had known for years, the one that had started it all: the woman in the white robe._

"_You are not finished yet." _

**Chapter 1**

I awoke with a start, cold sweat covering my body as I sat up in my bed. I'd been having that same dream for the past several nights, and it was starting to get on my nerves. The last time I had a similar dream like that was nearly two years before after we had defeated the Rahkshi. At that time I was too worried about making sure I was going to stay alive to worry about what some dream meant. But now that the danger of that had passed, I thought I was going to be able to continue with a somewhat normal life, not that I knew what normal was anymore.

You see, two years ago my family kicked me out and told me never to come back. They said it was part of some deal they had made, but I don't care anymore. They dumped me and that was it. Why they felt the need to then send the police after me, I have no clue. I was just happy that I had made a friend, a pilot named Dan, who could help me get out of trouble; at least, that's what we thought. One thing after another happened, and before we knew it there were dragons trying to kill us, biomechanical people called toa, matoran, and turaga that wanted to help us and evil Rahkshi that wanted to kill anything that got in their way. Of course, there were a few dragons that did want to help us. The most important one was Yori Yoi, who I called Yori for short. He was an orphan like me and was considered an outcast since his parents never got the chance to name him, and apparently other dragons weren't allowed to name him as part of some code that was started up somewhere towards the beginning of known time.

With some help from Yori and his other dragon buddies, we were able to stay out of some trouble. Well, it was more like Dan stayed out of most of the trouble. I was more the one who went head first into it from chasing Rahkshi on a snowy mountain to fighting poisoned toa. That was what got me in the most trouble. Dan had come to help me after a fight, and that was when another dragon, Ilsa, an evil, blood thirsty dragon, found us and killed Dan. Normal people tend to take that as a sign that it's time to get off the island and go home. Not me. I foolishly went on to help the toa fight the Rahkshi which eventually brought me to my current predicament. I was stabbed through the heart and killed. So, as part of some dragon mythology that turned out to be fact, Yori shared half of his heart with me and brought me back to life. The down side? The record for longest time alive after that was about four months. For whatever reason, a dragon heart could not properly sustain a human.

With the clock ticking, we went to work with all the scientist type matoran from several different villages to try to find a solution. Normally this would be the part where we cut open a known specimen for answers, but with me being the only subject that could be tested on, that was out of the question. For two months we toiled. I had to try to help them understand human physiology as best as I could, which didn't go well all the time since the most I knew was what they taught us in health class, which had been limited mainly to sex ed. in my high school, but after about two months we had finally come up with results.

Humans and dragons have two very different types of blood. Besides the obvious that we're two different species, dragon blood contained different concentrations of metals and other organic material that humans didn't have and vice versa. Putting it simply, my body was killing the heart. So, as the only solution that could be determined thus far was for me to have regular transfusions of dragon blood to not only sustain the heart but teach my body that it was an okay thing to have. In theory it's rather simple. The part where we had to put it in to application was the hard part.

Needles weren't exactly something that was part of matoran life, and the med kit that was on the plane had only two, and it took quite a bit of explaining that needles were not something that you used more than once. So, after another week of toiling over how to make the necessary equipment, we began the treatment. I was skeptical about whether or not it would work what with the body's tendency to reject foreign things and the fact that there would be no medication or any way to fix it if something went wrong. Either way, my time was running out, so we went for it and hoped for the best. Two years later I was still kicking and making trouble along the way.

With that crisis out of the way I thought about trying to figure out what the dream meant. For weeks I waited for something to happen, anything really, but nothing worth mention ever happened. No creatures chased me through the woods, and I never got a second visit from the ghost woman, so I figured I was in the clear. But with the dream coming back, I couldn't help but think that whatever was going to happen was going to happen sooner than later.

I tossed the blanket aside and stepped into my boots. I never really could get back to sleep after a nightmare, so I figured a walk would be best for me. I grabbed my long bow from the corner and back quiver and slung both over my shoulder before heading out of my hut. For the time being I had chosen to live in Le-Koro. I had considered going to live in Ta-Koro or even Ga-Koro or any of the other villages, but either the temperature or the climate never sat well with me. Le-Koro was the only place that didn't make me feel uncomfortable. Well, Yori's cave was also a good spot, but Yori had the tendency to snore rather loudly which pretty much put sleep out of the question most nights.

During the time that I had spent there I taught myself how to make a new bow since my original had been smashed in two by Toa Tahu's swords. Making it and new arrows had been the easy part. Learning how to shoot it was the hard part. Long bows and compounds were two different styles, but after the first year I had learned how to shoot fairly accurately with it. Over time I had improved more even though I rarely had to use it, which I was more than happy for, but I still kept in practice in case I ever did have to use it.

I crept through the still slumbering village until I reached the edge and jumped over the rope railing into the tree branches. With refined skill I hopped from branch to branch until I found my favorite tree. It was the closest one to the village that had a good view of the sunrise every morning. During the months I thought I was going to die, I took the time every morning and night to watch the sun go up and down. It had started out as my way of taking the time to enjoy what little of life I had left and then turned into my way of counting down until I died. Now, I barely got to see them anymore. I either slept right through them or was too busy doing something else to notice them anymore. But every now and then, when I did notice them, I tried to take a few minutes to watch just to remind myself that I was still living; whether that was a curse or a blessing, I still wasn't sure yet.

As I sat on the bough, I couldn't help but wonder what the dream meant. When I first started this so called journey, the figure had said that I would be tested. I wasn't sure what that meant, but if it meant being chased through the woods by strange, unknown creatures, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. And what difference would it make? So I got chased around. That wasn't exactly something foreign to me anymore. It was practically an everyday occurrence whenever I was in the jungle. How was I supposed to tell the difference? And if the dream had nothing to do with what was about to happen, what then? Should I guess that everything means something? Or would it be more obvious like the first time when the plane crashed? I was so confused it wasn't even funny anymore.

As the time ticked by, dark clouds began to form overhead. I heard the thunder rumbling and I took a few steps out to get a better look. As I did, rain began to pour down, and not even the cover of the leaves and branches could protect me from the downpour.

I stared back at the sunrise, its colors rapidly changing from the early morning pinks and purples into everyday boring blue, I thought to myself, _What else could possibly go wrong today?_

Of the two years I had spent here, there had been very few days where it rained while the sun was still shining. Of those days, every single one of them had something bad happen on them. I couldn't help but think that whatever was going to happen wasn't just going to happen soon but very soon. My only hope was that this time, whatever that ghost had in mind wasn't as catastrophic as the last time.

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**AN: Okay, so here's the sequal. Someone said that they were still interested in reading more, so here it is :) Hopefully it will live up to everyone's expectations. I know this one is a bit short, but i just wanted to get it out there so people know it's up, and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up sooner than later, but there's no guarantees with school already in full swing. Anyways. leave a review, let me know what you think :) Oh! And before I forget, i want to thank my beta Holly-Batali for helping me out. You rock!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When the rain finally let up, I headed back to the village unsure of what I could do. I knew I needed to be ready for whatever it was that was going to happen, but how do you prepare for what you don't know is going to happen?

With my clothes soaked through, I ran back to my hut to get changed before anyone noticed. The last time I had gotten caught in the rain Lewa had teased me for almost a week, and I didn't feel like going through that again. I usually had my own ammo to use against him, but so far I had nothing new on him that I could use. After changing my clothes and drying out my hair I stepped back out in to the village to see most of the matoran out and going about their regular business.

"Jaden," Lewa called from his perch at one edge of the village, waving me over to his spot.

"Good morning, Lewa," I greeted as cordially as I could manage. I was still exhausted and honestly didn't feel like interacting with anyone this morning.

"Why so glum? Night terrors again?" he asked, probably sensing my bad mood. I suppose it was harder to ignore than I thought.

"Yeah," I answered. "Same one as before. I just can't figure out what it means. Something's coming, Lewa. Something big."

"The jungle feels it too. The animals have been restless the past three nights. Is there nothing this dream can tell you?"

"Lewa, the last time I had a dream like this my plane crashed here. There's no rhyme or reason to them, no hint to what happens next. All I know is that we have more warning this time, for all the good it will do. I don't know, Lewa. I just don't know what to do next," I muttered as I slumped against the railing.

He put one cold, metal hand on my shoulder reassuringly. "Worry not now. Come wind fly. Always relaxing," he said in an uplifting tone.

"I think not today, friend," I said trying to manage a small smile. "I can hardly focus as it is. I'd crash into a tree if I tried flying today. Tomorrow?"

He smiled back at me and patted my shoulder before taking off breezing skillfully through the trees to wherever it was he needed to be today. I had to admit that the thought of flying did sound pretty appealing. It was one of the few pastimes I had available, and there was a rush unlike any other that came from it, especially when I flew with Yori Yoi. However, my mood was sour enough that I would hardly be good company to anyone else. I needed time to think, truly think about what my dream might mean, what could possibly be waiting for me, and I was hardly going to find my answers here in the village.

Refusing to use the ladders that led down to the ground I jumped out on to the branches nimbly as I had earlier this morning and swiftly moved from branch to branch lowering myself to the ground before landing deftly on the forest floor. For me this felt more natural even if it wasn't the fastest route down. I didn't care about speed, not today.

I wandered about on the forest floor not really caring where I ended up. It was easier to think when I was moving, and there was more than enough forest to wander through. As I contemplated what my dream could possibly be about it was hard not to notice that Lewa was right; the animals were acting differently. Typically I could walk around for hours and barely hear a sound, but every few minutes there was some sort of sound coming from somewhere whether it was a pair of gukko birds getting into a fight or an Ash bear grumping about something. After nearly being attacked by one I decided it would probably be safer to stick to the tree branches. It was more challenging to wander through the branches and think since I actually had to pay attention to where my next step went, but it was worth it to stay out of the way of the bears.

By the time the sun was in the middle of the sky I was still no closer to figuring anything out. On the positive side I was feeling much more sociable. I usually felt better after a good walk. After finding a sturdy enough branch I settled myself down and leaned against its trunk shutting my eyes for a few minutes. I was almost ready to doze off for a nice nap when I felt a breeze blow across my face carrying an odd odor.

I sat up in a crouched position putting my nose to the air trying to locate the source of the smell. I knew this smell didn't belong here. There was nothing on this island that produced that smell. It was exhaust. It was very faint, but I still recognized that foul odor. Moments later I could hear the drums of Le-Koro sending off a signal that something had landed, something that looked like a dragon. Whatever it was, it was no dragon. I listened more intently to the drums hoping to hear where it had been sighted. With my information gathered I started bounding through the trees in the direction that the drums had told me.

Was it possible that the island had been found by outsiders? How had that happened? The island was fairly well protected by the constant storms that surrounded the island. Any smart pilot would try to avoid the storm when he could. But the drums had said this dragon vehicle had landed, not crashed. Who had found us? Whatever or whoever was here couldn't be good. As I ran I was vaguely reminded of my dream. Was this what it had meant? Something was still off. In the dream I was chased by something, not me chasing it. Whatever it was, I was about to find my answers.

Just over a mile later I could hear the sounds of movement and the voices of strangers. I slowed opting for a silent approach to observe these unwelcomed newcomers. I was on top of them now and was rather surprised by what I saw. Their vehicle did, in fact, look like an emerald dragon. It was long and snake like in design, probably based on Asian depictions. Around it were gathered six individuals, five male, one female. They didn't look much older than I was, maybe nineteen or twenty at the most.

Their clothing was the most odd to me. It too was Asian in design, but they looked more like ninja impersonators than anything else. Their clothes were all black with different colored accents for each person. Perhaps it was a uniform, but it was no uniform I had ever seen. Typically if you were going to have different colors there were no more than four or five colors. Which meant there should have been at least two people with the same color, but this was not the case.

I didn't catch most of their conversation since my mind was still running 100 miles a second. How did they have such a transport? This wasn't something that was normal back home, at least it wasn't when I had left. I doubted technology had changed so greatly in two years for something like this. They had to be a private company, but what could they possibly want here? We had nothing of true value technology wise. Had they somehow gotten pictures of us on satellite and wanted to study the matoran closer? I couldn't let that happen, wouldn't let that happen.

I leaned in closer trying to catch bits of their conversation now. I had to know why they were here.

"Are you sure it'll be safe here, Cam?" one of the boys asked. His uniform was trimmed in yellow and his hair was a bit shaggy.

"It'll be fine here, Dustin," and Asian looking one dressed with green trim answered. "There doesn't appear to be much wildlife around here that would mess with."

"That's what they want you to think. We leave for a few minutes and all of a sudden it's crawling with bugs or something decides to take a nap in there, and then someone gets bitten by something poisonous or something like that. Happens all the time on T.V.," Dustin persisted. This one appeared to either be either a conspiracy theorist, really immature, watched way too much T.V. or some combination of the three.

"Relax, Dustin," the girl, a blonde dressed in light blue trim, chided. "Cam says it'll be fine, so it'll be fine."

"Yeah, but maybe someone should stay here with it, just in case," he suggested.

"Good idea," one of the other boys, a blonde with maroon trim, suggested putting his hands on Dustin's shoulders. "Why don't you stay here with the ship since you're so worried. I doubt anything will want to come near with you around. Your scream could scare away anything," he teased.

I found myself grinning at his comment. At least one of them had a good sense of humor. And he was very decent looking to boot.

Whoa. Did I really just think that about a stranger? Especially a stranger who was probably here to hunt down the matoran. I shook the thought from my mind wishing I hadn't even thought it. I suppose it was only natural. I hadn't been around another human in so long I suppose anyone of the opposite sex would seem like a great person. I had to remind myself that these were not friendly visitors. They were not for socializing.

I leaned over farther as they all continued to tease Dustin about him being a "fraidy cat" and a "chicken." I was hardly paying attention to myself and didn't realize until I heard the distinct popping noise of a breaking branch and started falling that I was not holding on to a very sturdy branch.

With a quick burst of air I slowed my fall and landed in the middle of the group gracefully in a crouched position like a jungle cat ready to pounce on its prey. They stared at me in shock and confusion for a moment. Obviously they hadn't expected a visitor. I hid my own shock and embarrassment at having fallen in front of them with a predatory glare.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the green one–Cam, I reminded myself–try to move closer to me. Choosing to make no assumptions about his intentions I snapped my head in his direction and in one fluid movement blew him back with a gust of air and trapped one of his wrists to the ground with a cuff of earth.

One thing I was grateful for these past two years was the time to practice the abilities that I had been granted with the pendant I had acquired. I was most experienced with earth and air mostly because they were more readily available than fire or water, but I was still rather formidable with those elements as well.

With Cam secured to ground I turned my gaze immediately to the others who had taken up defensive positions already. In the back of my mind a nagging little voice told me I had probably overreacted and made them hostile now, but I wasn't about to take any chances. I could ask questions later when I knew they couldn't hurt me or anyone else.

The closest to me, a tan boy with red trim, lunged at me attempting to grab me. I ducked beneath his grasp and swept his legs sending him tumbling to the ground. Before I could think to secure him to the ground as I had with Cam, Dustin attacked with a quick kick. I blocked his kick by grabbing his leg and pushed him, trying to put him off balance enough for me to land a hit so I could immobilize him as well. I got my hit, but there was no time to tie him down either. The blonde in blue was trying clothesline me. I bent over backwards and gave her a swift kick to the back causing her to go to her knees. The final boy, another tan boy with dark blue trim, grabbed me by the shoulder, but before he could land a hit or restrain me I grabbed his wrist and after removing his hand from my shoulder twisted it away from me and gave him a kick to the abdomen. The blonde boy tried to move in for a punch, but I ducked out of his way with a flip, kicking him square in the jaw in the process.

I knew this was going to get me nowhere fast. These people were skilled fighters and there was no way I was going to be able to defeat them in a group like this. I needed to divide and conquer. I quickly survey the group trying to decide which one of them was possibly the weakest fighter. I thought maybe the red trimmed one. He seemed to be impulsive since he had attacked first. I was getting to ready to make my move when I saw Dustin make several signs with his hands and with a sudden downward motion he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I watched as the earth around me began moving with a puff of smoke leading it and wondered for a moment how he was doing this. I knew I couldn't do anything like that with my abilities; at least, I had never tried to before. Was it a trick? I followed the fast moving dirt until it stopped suddenly and Dustin came flying up from the ground at me. Thinking quickly, I grabbed one of his outstretched arms and using his own momentum I propelled him onward and rammed him into the red and light blue trimmed people. They all fell over in a mass of bodies, and I quickly fastened them down to the earth quickly, hoping that Dustin didn't have some sort of trick that could get them out.

I turned my gaze back to the others that were left. These two I could handle alone. They looked to each other for a moment with an affirming look and nodded. They then yelled in unison, "Ninja storm, ranger form."

In a flash of light they were no longer wearing their black uniforms. They were now dressed in what looked like maroon and dark blue spandex with black on their arms and legs. Helmets now covered their faces with a shape over the visors that reminded me of beetle heads. Now I was worried. Silly as the uniforms were, could they actually pose a bigger threat now?

I wasn't going to take any chances. I gave them a come hither look and darted off into the trees taking extra care not to head in the direction of Le-Koro. Whatever was going to happen, I wasn't going to put the matoran at risk. I gave a cursory glance behind me as I ran and saw that they were indeed giving chase. As the foliage rushed by me in a blur of green and brown I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Was this what the dream meant? Was I to be chased by these people? And to what end? What did it all mean?

I refocused myself. This wasn't the time to consider my nightmares. I needed to stay focused if I was going to defeat these strangers and get the answers that I needed. With several bounds up steps of stone I put before me I found myself up in the branches again. I searched wildly for the whistle I kept around my neck, and after grasping it in my hands I brought it to my lips and blew. Its shrill sound filled the air for a moment, but a moment was all it would need. I knew Yori Yoi would hear it and come find me soon enough.

I could see the clearing up ahead, the same one from my dream. But this time I didn't have my bow. I didn't think I'd need it for walking today. My eyes searched earnestly for another weapon I could use. Just a few yards in front of me I could see a branch just long enough and thick enough that I could use as a bow staff. I sped up to it and jumped at it using my own weight and gravity to break the limb from the tree. I hit the ground at a dead run and grabbed the broken branch. It was a bit longer than I had wanted, but I figured a good hit to one of them could easily snap off some of the extra length.

When I reached the middle of clearing I turned to face them poised in an offensive position. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse they pulled out weapons of their own from thin air it seemed forming their own bow staffs. Theirs appeared to be made of a metallic substance which meant my stick would not stand a chance for very long. They took up defensive positions, and we stared each other down for what seemed like minutes, none of us wanting to make the error of moving in too soon.

My heart was racing a mile a minute, the sound of it pounding in my ears. I was only vaguely away of the tightening feeling in my chest as my heart continued to pound more fiercely. This was a bad time to realize that I was supposed to have had another blood transfusion yesterday. Sometimes I could an extra day or two beyond my regular two week interval. However, that was only dependent on whether or not I was doing strenuous activity. This definitely qualified as strenuous. I tried to force the pain back hoping to finish with these two quickly and get back to the village before my heart started to give out. That meant one of us was going to have to make the first move.

With little time to waste I charged at them bring my staff up sharply trying to hit the blue one's helmet. He blocked me with his staff like I figured he would, and the other one moved to swing his staff at me. I saw this and kicked him in the abdomen, subduing him for the moment. In one fluid motion I turned around until I was behind the blue one and hit him across the shoulders. Before I could land my next hit to send him to the ground completely I could see out the corner of my eye as the other one tried to bring his staff down on my head.

I raised my staff to block him then, before he could think of another attack, I dropped my staff and grabbed his flipping him over my shoulder and sent him to his back. The other one took this chance to land a hit to my stomach. I let out a grunt and backed up a few paces. With the red one's staff still in my hand I used it swipe at the blue one with a gust of air. He tumbled several feet before landing on his back. I figured this was my only chance and quickly trapped him to the ground with cuffs around his wrists and ankles.

I focused all my attention now to the only remaining foe. He had pulled himself to a kneeling position and looked like he was weighing his odds. It was hard to tell what he was thinking behind the helmet. That was a definite advantage. I couldn't tell where he was looking to exactly, couldn't tell where he was planning to attack next.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" he demanded. I answered only with a glare. I had no reason to explain myself to him. He was the trespasser. "What did we do?" he asked.

I narrowed my gaze at him. I would have thought that one was obvious. "You came here," I said in a low, menacing tone and sprinted several steps before jumping up to land a more powerful hit.

He rolled out of the way and grabbed his friend's forgotten staff and began to strike out at me. We exchanged blows, each of us parrying the other's hit until we found ourselves locked together.

"Listen to me," he said, straining against me. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't stop this now."

I scoffed at his pathetic threat. Him hurt me? Did he not notice that he was the last one left of six? Hadn't I already proved that I had no intentions of backing down? We continued to struggle against each other until I saw bounding from the trees four figures dressed in similar uniforms as these two wore now. The others had managed to escape, and they too had this similar ability to transform. I cursed, and this distraction was enough for him to push me back and land a blow to my chest.

I fell to my hands and knees and put one hand to my chest instinctively against the pain. His hit alone was not the only thing causing me chest pain now. The pain from my heart was getting worse, and while I was able to ignore it while I was fighting, I couldn't ignore it now. The pain tore through me like a thousand knives causing my face to contort in anguish. It took everything I had to stifle my groans of pain and keep myself from completely falling over.

They all noticed my pain, and the one I had been fighting stooped over to offer me a hand of assistance. I glared with all the ferocity I could muster and swatted his hand away. Where was Yori? Why hadn't he come yet? I desperately needed him now.

The boy reached down again to help me but quickly jerked away. I heard the sound of a feral cry as I saw Yori swoop down and grab the boy. He pinned him the ground with one large paw with enough force that the suit he had been wearing appeared to shatter to pieces revealing his previous uniform. Yori proceeded to roar in the boy's face as if it wasn't clear he was angry already. It was then that I noticed Yori had not come alone; Frost and Kidril had followed him and had the others pinned to the ground as well, their glimmering white fangs bared at each of them.

I was almost terrified myself. If I was not already familiar with the three terrors before me, I probably would have been as paralyzed as these strangers were now. Besides this, I had never seen Kidril act so ferocious before. I had watched him grow over the past two years, and in all that time I had only known him to be a sweet boy. He wasn't as small now as he was then. He was going on twelve years now and was nearly the size of Yori when I had first seen him. He was surely a force to be reckoned with now.

"Yori," I managed weakly. He tore his gaze away from his prisoner to stare at me. "Leave him for now. I need your help," I said and strapped him to the ground. I was more confident that they would stay put this time since now there were two dragons to keep an eye on them.

Yori released him and moved to my side to help me on to his back. He knew what I needed, and I was sure he was doing everything not to chide me right then and there. I knew I was going to get an earful later.

"What should we do with them?" Yori growled and moved to stand by Frost.

"Frost," I said motioning for him to bring his head closer so I could whisper in his ear. He did so, and I said quietly, "Find out what they want. If they mean harm to the matoran or the island, kill them. We don't need them reporting back."

He looked at me warily but did not question me. I had no desire to see them dead, but for the sake of the matoran, if they meant to do them ill, I couldn't let them leave or live to report to whoever they worked for.

"Yori, let's go," I ordered hoarsely and we took off flying as fast as possible back to the village.

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**AN: Well, here's chapter two finally. I just realized that it's been about a year since I started this story and haven't touched it. I know I got busy with school and my other story at the time. but that's a little ridiculous. So, cha[ter three will be coming by the end of the week. It's already finished, but i just want to let it sit and double check it for any little errors before I post it. Thanks to those of you who are coming back after finishing the first one and have been paying some attention to this story. I can only hope that this one will be even half as successful as the first one. Also, leave me a review, tell me what you think. I don't know if anyone likes or hates the story if you don't tell me. Though I doubt any of you hate it if you're still reading it at this point. Anyways, you know your job. Your comments always brighten my day and provide me a little extra incentive to keep posting chapters faster ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Minutes later Yori had me back in Le-Koro, and Lewa had helped me start my transfusion. I filled him in on all the pertinent details of the strangers and told him that they would shortly be dealt with if Frost found they were here for the matoran. He didn't look particularly pleased with this information, but he didn't say anything. I only hoped that meant he trusted my decision. I was about ten minutes in when a matoran walked in and said the Yori wanted to speak with me.

I walked outside of my hut with my bag of blood on its pole and Lewa to the railing and saw Yori hanging on to a tree.

"What is it?" I asked hoping that this wasn't about my heart. I wasn't ready to take on that argument yet.

"Frost finished his interrogation," he reported.

"And the strangers? What did he do with them?"

"Nothing," he said. "He said he wasn't sure what to do with them. They aren't here for the matoran. They said they found something and came to investigate. This isn't for us to decide, Jaden."

I knew he was right. Even if they weren't here for the matoran, they couldn't just be allowed to leave, but it wasn't up to us. Only the Turaga and Toa could make that decision now.

"Lewa, send word to the other villages. Tell them what's happened and assemble the other Toa and Turaga. We'll let them decide if these visitors are a threat or not," I told him. He nodded and darted off.

"What should we do with them for now? Frost and Kidril can't keep them where they are forever."

"Have them brought here. It's as good a place as any," I said. I honestly didn't really care where they stayed. I would have preferred them farther away from the matoran, but that wasn't much of an option. I couldn't just leave them alone in the forest at night and hope nothing bad happened, and I couldn't keep them trapped in one of Yori's caves. That was just unfair for him. I thought maybe they would be easier to keep in one place if they stayed in Ta-Koro. It had been rebuilt and they would have a hard time escaping across lava. The only problem was that it was hotter than Hades in there and they would probably pass out or have a heat stroke. I didn't need that either.

Yori nodded and leapt back into the air causing the tree he had been holding onto to shake a shudder at its release. With that settled I went about making preparations for some sort of prison where they could be held until a decision was made. The healer was hardly happy about it since his hut was the only one large enough to accommodate all six, but he agreed to let us use the space for the time being. It was only for a day or two, so it was hardly a large inconvenience for him.

Nearly half an hour into my transfusion Yori, Frost and Kidril brought the six and dropped them as close to the prison as they could. They all landed with a loud 'oof' and began rubbing which ever body part had landed on the wood planks first. Half a dozen guards met them where they landed and gruffly ushered them into their make-shift prison and barred the door behind them.

I could easily see that they were somewhere between shock, awe, and confusion. I imagined they were something like I had been when I first arrived. Except they hadn't nearly drowned, got eaten by a dragon or froze to death within the first hour of their visit. I'm sure they thought they were going to be eaten, but that was beside the point.

After seeing that they were safely locked away I went back to my hut and laid on my bed to wait the extra hour and a half that I would need to finish. Time seemed to drag on over the next several hours as I waited for the Turaga and Toa to arrive. I would have thought they would have tried to come immediately with a threat like this. I guess I was wrong this time. I took the time to occasionally look in on the visitors. They were taking the stress very well. I remembered I was hardly this composed when I first arrived. Granted, I had come here unwillingly, and they hadn't. They were reasonably confused, even a bit fearful, but they still didn't seem to understand that they were trespassers. They didn't think they had done anything wrong. Maybe they hadn't exactly done anything wrong, but their presence here was a serious threat to our security. If the outside world found this place, it would be destroyed.

When the others finally arrived we all gathered as far away from the rest of the matoran as we could so we could discuss without interruption. This wasn't exactly easy since everyone wanted to know what we were planning, which was understandable, but we managed well enough.

"They can't be allowed to leave. There's no telling how many others they could bring back," Tahu said first.

"And if they never report back to the outside world? How many more would that bring to search for them? This is hardly that simple, Brother," Gali pointed out.

"What do you suggest then? Simply let them leave?"

"No, but we can't keep them here either."

"Enough," Turaga Vakama chided like a father breaking two fighting children apart. "Both of your suggestions bear some merit. Letting them leave may bring more outsiders, but keeping them will most certainly doom us. They came here for a reason. We should learn what that reason is," he said wisely. We all nodded our agreement. Leave it to Vakama to be the voice of reason. "Jaden, you encountered them first. What reason did they give for being here?"

"Forgive me, Turaga. I have not yet questioned them. All Yori told me was that they were not here for the matoran. They said they were here because they found something. I know nothing more than that," I replied.

"Would you say they could be believed? They are your own kind. Surely you have some opinion of them," he pressed.

I was hesitant to answer. I barely knew them. How was I to know if they could be trusted or not? "All I know of them is that they are skilled warriors. I have no idea if they can be trusted. Turaga, our history has proven time and again that foreign explorers, however noble their intentions may seem, always bring about ruin to the natives sooner or later."

"You are here, are you not? You have hardly brought ruin to this island," Turaga Nokama said.

"No, I have not, but I did not come here searching for this place. These people have, and if they can find us, others can, too."

The Turaga looked to each other for some sort of silent confirmation of a decision they had apparently already made.

"We cannot make a full judgment without all the information. Jaden, bring forth one of these visitors. Let them explain their intentions," Vakama ordered.

I nodded and stepped away to do as I had been told. As I approached the hut I looked in through one of the windows trying to decide which one I should bring to the Turaga. With nothing to base my decision on I decided to choose whichever one was closest to the door. At least it would be easier to get that one out the door. The hut had been built for a matoran sized person, not a full grown human. They all looked like sardines squeezed into a can all sitting with their knees to their chests. The closest one was the blonde haired boy who had nearly defeated me. I wasn't exactly pleased that it was him, but there wasn't much of an option. Trying to pull out someone else would just take more time, and the Turaga were waiting.

I opened the door and poked my head through the opening. They all stared at me expectantly as they waited for me to speak.

"You," I said in a coarse tone as I pointed to the blonde, "what is your name?"

He looked confusedly at the others before answering, "Hunter. Why are we here? What do you want with us?"

"Hunter," I said, chewing on the name. "You will come with me. Now."

"I'm not going anywhere until you give us some answers. First you attack us, then have us dragged here like criminals without telling us a thing. We want answers," he demanded.

"We will be the ones asking the questions, not you. Now come or I will have you forcibly moved," I threatened. Why did he have to be so difficult? Now I was beginning to regret having him as my choice.

He gave me an indignant glare before getting to his feet and exited the hut. I barred the door behind him and led him toward the others. I half expected him to make an escape attempt since he had no restraints, but he walked along quietly. I stood him in the middle of the circle that had been formed and took a spot behind him in case he decided to change his mind about being cooperative.

"Turaga Vakama, this is Hunter. He will speak for the others," I said.

Vakama nodded and looked to Hunter. "Tell us, and tell us truthfully, why have you come here?"

Hunter looked around nervously at the Toa and Turaga. I imagined he felt like a cornered rabbit right now, and I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"We meant no harm, sir. We saw an energy signature on our computers and came to investigate."

"You saw us? How? What is this computer you speak of?" Tahu interjected.

Hunter looked to me as if unsure how to answer. I figured I would help him this one time.

"It's a device, a piece of technology that can serve many functions. It has the capabilities to connect with a satellite, a small ship that orbits the earth, which can take pictures and pick up signals sometimes," I explained. It probably wasn't one hundred percent accurate, but it would be accurate enough for them. "But a satellite thus far has never found this island. How is it you did?"

"I don't know how it all works. Cam could tell you better than me. All I know is that we picked up some sort of energy signal. We had no idea that any of you were here," he said, a hint of desperation apparent in his voice. Perhaps he was telling the truth.

"Are there others who possess this technology? Others that could come here and find us?" Vakama asked.

Hunter looked unsure again, even hesitant, but he did answer. "There may be one other, sir."

"And this other. Would he mean harm to us?"

Hunter sighed as if defeated. "If he found this place, he would not hesitate to destroy it and anyone who got in his way."

Hunter's words made them all gasp and begin whispering to each other. I glared at him, sure that my original assumption had been correct. This was what my dream had meant. These strangers were going to bring a great danger to this island, threaten to destroy everything the matoran had built here. I would not let that happen.

"You heard it yourself, Turaga. They know of others who have the ability to find us and destroy us. We cannot allow them to leave and possibly spread that technology. It must end here," Tahu exclaimed.

"He is right. These strangers cannot be trusted to remain here without a fight. They must be destroyed."

I didn't catch who had said it, but judging by the age I heard in the voice it had to be a Turaga. I was almost appalled that a person who was supposed to be so wise would suggest something so drastic, but I reminded myself I had considered the same action. This was the only way we could insure our secret would remain safe.

"No, no, wait, please," Hunter interjected, his eyes wide with fear at the possibility of death. "There's another way."

Vakama held up his hand for silence and the others quickly quieted themselves. "What do you propose, boy?"

"If we were to find the source of the energy and take it away from here, we could lead him away. He could follow it to us. Your people would not have to be put in danger, and you wouldn't have to kill us," he explained quickly.

"We cannot trade one massacre for another," I said. "If you take it away, you put everyone back in your home in danger. It would be unethical to let them do this, Turaga."

"We know how to handle him," Hunter said as he stared sternly at me. "The people back home would be in no more or less danger than before. It is a risk worth taking," he pressed.

The Turaga looked thoughtful for a moment before coming to another silent confirmation. "We have much to consider," Turaga Nokama said.

"Indeed we do," Vakama agreed. "Leave us now. We shall send for you when we have reached our decision."

We all nodded and led Hunter back to his prison.

"How could you just stand there silently?" Hunter hissed under his breath. "They were ready to sentence us to death, and you just stood there. Have you no loyalty to your own kind?"

"My loyalty is to these people," I said as I stood in his way. "I was ready to have you all killed myself when we met in the jungle. The only reason you have stayed alive this long is because you are not here to harm them."

"Oh, yes, because everybody just wants to destroy a bunch of robots for nothing," he said with sarcasm dripping off every word.

"They are not robots," I snapped in his face. "These people," I said with emphasis, "are more human than you will ever be."

"They aren't human. They're savage as far as I've seen. They have no concept of modern technology and are willing to kill any outsiders to protect their little secret, except for you, apparently. Tell me. Why is that? What do they gain from keeping you as their little pet?" he spat.

"I am no one's pet," I spat back. "You want to know the big difference between you and me? I proved myself to be trustworthy, to be a help to these people. They saved me and helped me when others wouldn't. I also have no intentions of leaving and possibly exposing them to the rest of the world like you."

"So you feel like you owe them? That's how they keep control over you? You don't have to stay here anymore. Help us escape, and we can take you home. You don't have to be a prisoner here anymore."

I scoffed at him. "You think I'm a prisoner here? I'm not here because I have to be. I'm here because I want to be. Your world has nothing more to offer me, so I will stay here. Now let's go," I said and started pushing him back toward the prison.

"You may not see it, but you are a prisoner here, and you always will be until you stop following their orders like a little lap dog."

"Shut up," I snapped as I unbarred the door. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Now get in," I ordered motioning to the door.

He did so resentfully and I shut and locked the door behind him. I couldn't even begin to express my anger for him. How dare he even infer that I was under the control of anyone. Who did he think he was to assume such a thing? I had no obligation to the Toa or the Turaga, and they had never pressed for any kind of commitment from me. I was as free as anyone else on the island. I chose to help them. I had to live here too, and if their security was threatened, mine was, too.

I chose to wait out my time in my hut, having no desire to be anywhere near the strangers, especially that Hunter. After laying on my bed a few minutes Kopaka entered.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Nothing," I answered tersely as I stared at the ceiling.

"That hardly sounds like nothing. Why do these humans bother you so much?"

I sat up ready to answer him. Kopaka was one of the few Toa that I wasn't afraid to talk to. He didn't beat about the bush, didn't try to sugar coat his thoughts. He was to the point, even a bit blunt at times, but at times like this, it was something that I needed. I needed someone to tell me that I wasn't wrong, that I wasn't making some sort of mistake.

"They are a threat to all of us, Kopaka, and they can't even see it. And that Hunter had the gall to say that I was some sort of prisoner here, nothing more than the Turaga's lap dog. Can you believe that?"

He looked at me with a bit of confusion on his face. "A lap dog? I don't understand."

I sighed in frustration. I forgot that I still had a few phrases that they still didn't understand. "I mean that he's saying I'm a pawn of the Turaga, that they're only using me as a tool, nothing more."

"That's certainly not true, but that's hardly the issue. Why do they really bother you?"

I was taken aback by his questions. "They… They bother me because they're here. They're arrogant and oblivious to the fact that their very presence here threatens us."

"You mean it threatens you," he corrected.

Now it was my turn to look at him with confusion. "What do you mean? What threatens the matoran threatens me and Yori as well. This isn't just about me, Kopaka."

"I think it is," he pressed. "I think that you're afraid of what might happen to you if they leave. This isn't about whether or not they'll keep our secret. They have their own secrets and obviously have no interest in us or in revealing us to the world. You are afraid that you might actually start to like them and miss them when they're gone."

"Me, miss them?" I asked incredulously. "Me missing them would be like missing a thorn in your foot after it's been pulled. I don't want them here, and I certainly won't miss them when they're gone."

"Think about it for a minute. These are the first humans you've had contact with in over two years. You and your kind are social creatures that need contact with each other to survive. When that contact is gone, where does that leave you?"

"I hardly need social contact with _them_. I live here among the matoran, among you Toa, with Yori and the others. I have more than enough socialization to ever miss these humans."

"Yes, but it's not the same thing. We can never replace another human. You may not feel it now, but in time you won't feel the same way. You'll start to crave the attention of another, and there's nothing any of us can do to fill that void."

This was another reason why I hated talking with Kopaka. Sometimes he made too much sense for his own good. I fell back on the bed with my hands covering my face. I didn't want to listen to his words. There was some truth to them. I was scared for the matoran, but I suppose I was scared for myself as well. For the first time in a long time I felt like I truly belonged somewhere. I wasn't out of place anymore. This was the place I felt normal. But I knew I had promises I had to keep as well. I promised Dan that I would get a message to his family as soon as I could. I promised P-ton that I would tell him everything that was going on. I still hadn't made good on either promise. I wasn't ready to return, not yet. And what if the world wasn't ready for me yet? If I returned now, would someone recognize me somewhere and say something? Where would that put me then? There were too many uncertainties that I wasn't ready to face.

"Remind me why I like talking to you again?" I groaned.

"Because I'm usually right," he replied smugly.

I sighed and sat up again.

"Okay, then what are you suggesting that I do? Leave with them if the Turaga let them go? I wouldn't survive one day. It's a whole other world back there."

"I'm not saying you should return for good, but it might not be such a bad thing for you to go back once in awhile just for a short time. You may need it more than you realize."

"I can't guarantee I'll go, but I'll think about."

He gave me the equivalent of a small smile and nodded before leaving me alone again.

It was almost an hour before a matoran came to my hut with news that the Turaga had come to a decision. I left my hut and went back to the prison to retrieve Hunter, though I certainly had no desire to be anywhere near him right now. We walked back to the newly gathered circle and again stood in the center to hear the Turaga's judgment.

"This has not been an easy decision. Hunter, you must understand our predicament. Our entire way of life is at stake. This cannot be taken lightly," Vakama said.

"I know, sir, but this can be resolved peacefully if you would just give us a chance," Hunter pleaded.

"Try to understand that we have little firsthand knowledge of your people and their ways. The dragons who first came here spoke of nothing but your savagery, how your kind destroys what it fears or cannot comprehend. But you, Jaden," he said motioning to me, "have shown us the humans's capacity for good. Therefore, we will allow you, Hunter, to do as you have suggested. Find the source of this energy you spoke of and bring it to us if you can. We will decide then what the best course of action will be. Be warned though. If you try any trickery, we will have little choice but to destroy you and your companions. We would prefer to avoid this bloodshed."

"That's all we want, too, sir," Hunter said with a bit of relief in his voice.

"Jaden, you shall accompany him to find this source. Your opinion of the trustworthiness of these humans shall carry great weight in this decision. Be aware of this, boy," Vakama added.

Hunter looked at me, displeasure written across his features. If he thought I was anymore thrilled at the prospect of having to follow him around like a toddler needing a babysitter, he was sadly mistaken. We all nodded our agreement to the Turaga's decision and dispersed. Not wanting to prolong our time together anymore than was necessary I quickly grabbed my bow from my hut and led Hunter back to his ship where he had said there was a device he could use to locate the energy source.

"It shouldn't be me doing this," he said as he rummaged through the ship. "Cam is much better with this technology than I am. You should have taken him instead."

"It's too late for that. Now stop your griping and get a move on it. I don't want to be here if an Ash bear decides to come walking through. It's hard enough wrestling them when they aren't chasing down another target," I said tersely.

"An Ash bear? What's an Ash bear?"

I looked at him disbelievingly. "You seriously can't guess that one for yourself?"

"Well, I don't know if that means a big bear, little bear, or something else entirely. You can't expect me to know everything about this place after only a few hours," he grumbled.

"Use your brain and listen for a change. I obviously wouldn't have said it if it wasn't important or dangerous. Have you found that thing or not?" I asked impatiently.

"I've almost got it. So why did you pick me anyways?"

"Honestly, you were the closest one to the door," I answered truthfully.

"Seriously?" he asked as he peeked out from the ship to stare at me, one eyebrow cocked in disbelief.

"Yeah," I replied. "What? You thought it was because I thought you were something special? In your dreams."

"Hey," he said as he hopped down from the ship, a device in his hands. "I may not be a techno wiz or something like Cam, but I'm hardly your average guy. I'm a Power Ranger. That's gotta count for something."

I just stared at him. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

He looked at me with a bit of frustration and even a bit hurt that I didn't know what he was talking about. "No, I guess not since you like living under a rock," he said with more than a little spite as he began fiddling with the device.

"If you ask me, it all sounds a little hokey. I mean, seriously, Power Rangers? Who came up with that name, a five year old? And you guys must not be that good if I was able to take you down by myself."

"As I recall, I had you beaten until your dragon flew in to save you," he said smugly.

"First off," I said jabbing a finger to his chest. "You didn't beat me. I had four of you incapacitated before you even had a chance to do your little flashy show with your suits. Second, I didn't need Yori or the others to finish you. I would have had you all taken care of in another minute if I had been given the chance," I said matter-of-factly. If my heart hadn't started to give out, I would have most certainly defeated the little imp and the rest of his companions. He just didn't know it yet.

"That's not what I saw. You were on the ground clutching your chest by the end of our fight. You wouldn't have lasted another thirty seconds," he said as he closed what distance there was between us, towering over me as if it made him feel better. It made me want to kick him in the shins like a four year old. I restrained myself.

"Once again, you don't know what you're talking about. What happened out there had nothing to do with any lucky hit you may have gotten. Now let's get back to work. We're all too eager to see this finished and dealt with. Besides, I've got better things to do than babysit you."

He let out a 'hmph' and went back to messing with his device. I didn't understand the technology, but I was smart enough to be able to appreciate how obviously advanced it was. It had the looks of a GPS device but with a much better screen and what looked to be better locating abilities. And judging from the other buttons on the device it had the potential for other uses.

"It's showing the energy source is that way," he said pointing northwest toward the mountain side where Yori's cave was located.

"Let's get moving then. Stick close to me. I don't need you lost out here," I said and started walking with him in tow.

* * *

**AN: As promised, here's chapter three. I hope you guys are liking it so far, but I have no idea if you don't review or say something. Also, I mean no offense to Power Rangers in the slightest. It used to be one of my favorite TV shows and the old seasons still are, but what it's turned into in the past couple of years put it to shame. The writers definitely need to go back to the old stuff and take a few lessons from the first couple seasons. Okay, enough of my ranting. Leave me a comment, and let me know what you think. ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had taken us nearly an hour of walking through the jungle before we finally arrived at the base of the cliff. It would have taken less time if I hadn't had to keep waiting for Hunter to catch up with his little device, but there wasn't much that could be done about it. I had hoped that somewhere along the way we would have found the thing, but I guess that would have made everything too easy. As we stood there he kept fiddling with device and aimed it up and down the rock wall.

"Anything?" I asked trying to hide my irritation after having stood there for several minutes.

"I don't know. According to this, the source is somewhere in the mountain, but I can't figure it out anymore than that," he reported.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" I said, this time making no effort to conceal my displeasure. I then took my whistle from around my neck and blew it as I had before. I was sure I could get us both up to the entrance of Yori's cave, but I still wasn't feeling back up to one hundred percent yet. Besides that, I figured Yori wouldn't be too far away. He still seemed on edge after his first encounter with Hunter, and I was sure he wouldn't be very comfortable with the idea of me being alone with the boy.

As it turned out, I had been right since Yori came out of the foliage only seconds later. How he moved about the jungle so silently I still didn't know.

"What is it?" he asked with the hint of a growl as he caught sight of Hunter.

Hunter seemed to go a shade paler at the sight of Yori, which was understandable. I could still remember the first time I had seen Yori. He had seemed like such a great creature then, and he still was today. He had grown a bit in the past two years though he was still smaller than Frost, and he would probably stay that way for the rest of his life. At least, I hoped so.

_Good_, I thought. _Be afraid of him. He won't hesitate to eat you if you try anything stupid._

"We could use a lift up, Yori. This thing is in the mountain, probably somewhere in the tunnels," I said.

Yori stooped down and let me climb up on his back. "Does he have to ride as well?" he asked.

"He has the device, so yes, he has to come, Yori," I said with a pat to his neck.

Yori stared down at Hunter for a long moment before scooping him up in his mouth and taking off into the sky. I was not entirely happy with his action, but I couldn't help but smirk at it. It was a little too much fun terrorizing him. In moments we were safely in the entrance of the cave, and Yori spat out Hunter making a disgusted look as he did.

"He needs a bath; he tastes horrible," Yori said.

"If you had done as I asked, you wouldn't have had to taste him at all," I said smugly as I hopped down from his back.

Hunter, who was now dripping with saliva, stared up from his position on the ground with a look of indignation at the dragon. He stood himself up and began wiping off as much of the spit as he could though it didn't do him much good.

"Seriously? You just about gave me heart attack!" Hunter exclaimed.

"That's the least that you deserve," Yori growled.

"That's enough from both of you," I scolded, putting myself between the two of them. "Hunter, let's go. Yori, wait here. This shouldn't take long."

They both gave each other a final stare before I started pushing Hunter away, wiping off my hands in disgust as they were covered with Yori's spit. I was going to have to make a note that next time Yori decided he wanted to put someone in his mouth to try controlling his saliva. This was just gross. Then again, he probably did it on purpose.

We walked down the scarcely lit tunnels going in what seemed like zig zags. I was beginning to wonder if he even knew how to properly use the device. Now I was wishing I had gone back and brought Cam along instead.

"Are you sure you know how to work that thing?" I asked after we had been wandering for nearly half an hour.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm just having a hard time pin pointing it. It's like we need to go down or something," he said and stopped to fiddle with something on the device.

"How far down are we talking?" I asked as I peered over his shoulder to get a better look at the screen.

"I don't know," he said with a frustrated sigh. "Just give me a minute, okay?"

I stepped away to give him some space. Part of me did feel a little sympathy for him. At least he was trying to do something about the problem albeit somewhat unsuccessfully. I supposed I couldn't be too hard on him for that. The whole situation was still pretty damn inconvenient. I wandered down the tunnel a little ways and could see further ahead that there were no more light stones to guide us if we had to continue, and I had forgot to bring my pack which had a stone inside. I took a few more steps forward and could see at least another thirty feet or more down the tunnel looked like it was collapsed.

I put my hand against the wall and tried to "see" above and below us to figure out what would have caused the collapse. I learned that if I focused enough I could see through the rock and make out distinct pictures. It was similar to the way a blind person could see a person's face by feeling except this was more accurate. Above the tunnel I could only see solid rock with no signs that there was or ever had been anything above it. It was below it that I could see the source of the problem. Below the tunnels of Yori's caves were the tunnels for the Onu-Koro Highway. Two years ago a great portion of those tunnels had been collapsed by Onewa when the Rahkshi attacked. I had never truly explored Yori's tunnels to see what kind of impact it might have had until now. I continued looking and could see that the rock we were now standing on was not stable, and if we were to go any further, it was likely to collapse on us.

"Hey, I think I got it. It's this way," Hunter said running down the tunnel towards me.

I tried to warn him to stop, but it was too late. The ground began to crack under the new weight, and there was little I could do that would keep it steady. For now, it was still holding.

"What now?" he asked tentatively.

"I don't know. Just don't move. Any sudden shift could cause this whole thing to go."

"Can't you use those abilities of yours to fix it?"

"Hang on," I said and tried to think of something that could help. I wouldn't be able to fix the floor, but there was a chance that I could possibly stabilize it long enough for us to at least get away from it.

I reached out one hand and began to move the earth from the wall and tried to use it to stabilize the floor from beneath. As I tried to move the earth the floor began to quake and crack even further. That quickly ruled out that option.

"Okay, that's not gonna work."

"What do we do now? We can't just stay here forever."

"Just shut up for a sec, and let me think," I snapped. I couldn't fix it, and I couldn't stabilize it with any of the surrounding rock. I considered lifting the rock we were on and levitating the both of us back to the more stable area of the tunnel, but I wasn't sure if the remaining rock would collapse or not. If it did, there was a chance more of the tunnel could become unstable, and I wasn't sure how long I could hold the both of us up.

"Give me your hand. We'll make a jump for it," Hunter suggested and held out his hand.

"Are you crazy? This whole thing will probably give way."

"Yeah, and with any luck we'll be out of the way when it does. Now give me your hand," he insisted.

"No. Just give me a minute to think of something."

"We don't have a minute. Let's go," he said and lunged out, grabbing my arm and pulled me. I tried to resist him, but it didn't do much good. He pulled with all his might, and I lost my footing. The ground beneath us began to crack and give way and sent us tumbling down.

It was hard to say how far we fell, but it had to be a fair distance since we fell for several seconds. We landed with a thud, a tangled mess on a stone floor. A string of swears went through my mind, but I held them back for the moment. I was angry, but that wasn't going to help right now.

"Are you okay?" Hunter finally groaned.

"I'm fine," I seethed. "Remind me to kill you when we get out of here."

When I finally caught my breath again I tried to look around, but it was no use. Wherever we had landed there were no lightstones, so it wasn't one of the main tunnels. That meant it could be any number of tunnels. This was not good. I crawled out of the crumpled mess we were in trying not hurt him as I went. He let out several grunts as I stepped on him a few times which couldn't be helped. When I was finally free I cleared away some of the rubble down to the floor and placed my hand there to get a better view of the tunnel or wherever we were. What I saw had me flabbergasted.

It wasn't a tunnel. It was a chamber and from the looks of it, it went down fairly deep, at least another fifty feet. However far down it was, it too far for my senses to be able to reach. It had been carved in a near perfect circle with a walkway that spiraled down to wherever the bottom finally was. Along the walkway there were corridors carved out that led to smaller chambers filled with indiscernible items.

"Whoa," I gasped. How could I not have seen this earlier? Was it just too far down? Maybe I was too distracted to truly notice before. Did Yori know about this? If he did, why hadn't he said something before? I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. I thought I had explored every inch of these tunnels. I guess once again I was wrong.

"What is it?" Hunter asked.

"You've gotta see this," I said.

"That might be kind of hard since it's pitch black. Hang on, I think I've got a lighter here somewhere," he said and I could see him shuffling around searching his pockets until he pulled out said lighter. It took a few strikes, but it sparked to life and temporarily blinded us at the sudden light.

In the dim light it was easier to see the enormity of the cavern. On the level we were at, Yori, Frost, and Kidril could spread out their wings, and there would still be ample room for them to move about. Along the walls there were paintings that appeared to be in the rock, not painted on top, and carvings of riders astride mighty dragons in flight and in battle. There was also only one entrance to another corridor on our level. I motioned for Hunter to bring the light forward and examined the painting next to the entrance of the corridor. It depicted a man sitting with a woman standing behind him, her hands resting gracefully on his shoulder, and two dragon heads in the background, all of them staring forward with a solemn look on their faces. Their clothing looked medieval, and around both of their necks was the familiar dragon pendant that I too wore. Beneath the painting was an inscription with what looked like their names, but they had worn away.

Who were these people? And why did they get a level all to themselves? Was this the first Guardian and his wife? It couldn't possibly be. Based on what Yori had told me, the Guardians didn't move the dragons here until several centuries after the first had died. Was this merely a recreation then?

So many questions now plagued me about this place. It had to be some sort of mausoleum to the Guardians, but what then was contained in the corridors? Surely they could not all be filled with the tombs of the Guardians. How would it have been possible to make such a move even if they had the bodies?

"Who do you think they were?" Hunter asked after a moment of staring.

"I'm not sure. Let's look inside, see if there's any clues," I said and took his lighter for a moment. Now that I had a source of fire I took some of his small flame and turned it into a small ball of fire in my palm to use as a better source of light.

"Whoa! You never said you could do that!"

"You never asked, and it was never pertinent," I answered with mild disregard.

With an incurable curiosity I ventured inside the corridor. I don't know what I expected to find inside. More paintings and carvings? Relics that once belonged to the people in the portrait? A coffin? As I stepped across the threshold, I was relieved to find that there was no coffin inside the smaller room. There were indeed more carvings inside depicting great battles of the two dragons in the portraits, their riders dressed in sleek armor that almost looked like they were shining in the sun. They certainly would have been a stunning sight to see in their time. Along one wall were three rows of stone shelves that were filled with small artifacts of jewelry, small boxes adorned with precious stones, articles of clothing and even several weapons. One of these weapons was a bow, its string wrapped carefully around the leather wrapped grip, and a quiver full of arrows rested beside it. Based on the curves at the tips of the bow limbs, I hazarded the guess that it was a recurve bow, though I doubted I would ever get the chance to string it and see if it held the shape of one. It had to have been so ancient that any use would surely snap the wood in two. What a pity.

On the wall adjacent to the shelves were two stone mannequin looking figures adorned with what was left of the armor that had been depicted in the carvings. I had to admit that the likeness was superb down the very fine details that had been etched into the metal. The carvers in Pokoro were exceptional craftsmen, but these put even the most experienced carvers to shame.

"I thought you were the only human who had ever been here before," Hunter said as he looked over the carvings.

"I admit, I knew that I wasn't the first one here, but I had been told that the ones who were here first left long before I was even born, but they didn't come here until several centuries after the first Guardian died. I don't know how all these things got here," I answered.

"Guardian?" he asked and turned to me. "What are you talking about? How do you know they're these Guardians?"

"It's a long story, but you saw those pendants in the portrait? They were worn only by Dragon Guardians, an ancient society devoted to protecting dragons and promoting peace between humans and dragons. They came here when dragons were labeled as monsters and being hunted down. The story never mentioned that so many had come here," I explained.

"So you're telling me that you've been sitting on top of a tomb of ancient dragon lovers, and you didn't know it? But you know just about everything else there is to know about these people. Why does that sound very unbelievable?"

"I can't explain it," I snapped. "Yori never told me about this place, and I doubt he even knows about it. It's obvious this place has been sealed up for a long time. But," I trailed off as a sudden idea struck me. Yori might not have know, but could Frost have known? He's the one who told Yori all the stories about the Guardians. He had to have known something about this place, even if they were just rumors.

"But what?" Hunter demanded when I didn't finish.

"Never mind, it's not important. Let's find whatever's causing that energy reading and get out of here," I said and left the room. Hunter followed behind staring daggers in my back.

I moved out to the edge of the spiral and looked down in to the dark depths below. It had to be at least five stories down if not more. If my estimations were correct, this tomb went down farther than Onukoro.

"Any idea how far down the thing is?" I asked Hunter as he stared back at his device.

"We're closer now. It looks about twenty, maybe forty feet down," he answered.

"That's about two levels. Let's see how far down this place goes. You might want to step back," I said as I took the flame in my hand and separated it in two.

"What are you going to do?"

"Natural gas can build up in caverns like this and end up settling down at the bottom. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting blown up today."

"So what are you going to do? Light it up and try blowing us up anyway? Great plan," he said sarcastically.

"If there is any down there and it does explode, I'll be able to protect us from up here. Don't get your pants in a wad," I said and threw the fireball down.

I watched as it travelled down, illuminating each floor as it went. At least six could be seen before the flame finally went too far to be seen. When there was no inferno to greet us, it was safe to assume that we could travel down safely.

"Just out of mild curiosity, what if there had been gas here on this level or something else explosive in the air? Why would you let me take out my lighter if you thought of that?"

I thought about it a moment before answering. "Actually, I didn't even consider it. Good thing there wasn't any," I said with a smirk and started down the walk way. He gaped at me for moment then sprinted to catch up.

As we continued down the walkway many more doorways passed us by, each one with a painting beside of a Guardian. I noticed that the majority were women, but there were still plenty of men and even several more couples, but they were few and far between. I suppose the lifestyle of Guardian was a lonely one. Why else would there have been so many singles? And all the pictures couples had two dragons in the picture. That had to mean Guardians only married other Guardians. Why was that? Could only another Guardian be able to accept another Guardian? What was the lifestyle like that they would only be with another Guardian? I could only imagine the field day an anthropologist would have if any could have the chance to study this place. When we reached what would be the third level Hunter stopped and checked his device again.

"Is it here?" I asked.

"Yes. Over…there, in that one," he said, pointing to a room with the painting of a female with a green dragon in the background that reminded me of Ilsa. I stared at this dragon for a moment and tried to compare it to the monster that she was, but this one was very different. There was kindness in this creature's eyes, something Ilsa's never had.

We stepped inside and were greeted with a similar layout as the first one. There pictures on the walls, except there were no battles here. They must have lived during a peaceful time. There was no armor and no weapons on the shelves. Instead, the shelves contained what looked like early scientific equipment. Some jars and bottles still filled with what like herbs, a few animal parts that had nearly completely decayed, and some contained liquids that could have been any number of things. There were also several figurines that varied in size, each carved in the shape of an animal, and some that vaguely looked like people, but they had not been well taken care of. Many of the human figures were missing limbs, and it was hard to tell which ones were purposeful and which ones simply just been accidentally broken.

"I don't see anything here that could put off an energy signal that could be picked up by satellite. Are you sure we're on the right level?"

"I'm positive. The readings are coming from this room. Over there," he said pointing at the wall where the armor from the previous room would have been. The wall was empty.

"There's nothing here," I noted.

"What about behind the wall?"

I considered it for a moment. There was nothing in the room to suggest that there was some secret door that would open up the wall. So how did the object get behind the wall? Yori told me that no one else used the original pendent because the danger was too great from whatever evil force was locked away. Was an exception made for whatever was hidden behind the wall? Now I was beginning to consider leaving the object alone.

I put my hand to the wall and reached out with my senses to see what was located beyond the rock. What I found didn't fill me with much relief. It looked to be a coffin. This was odd since the last three we had passed had their coffins prominently displayed in the middle of thee room, each of them ornately carved.

"Looks like there's a coffin hidden in the wall," I said to Hunter.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I could see it, okay?"

"Well can you pull it out? There must be something in the coffin."

"I can try, but there's probably a reason it was hidden. Whatever this thing is, it could be dangerous," I warned.

"Isn't that why we came here in the first place? To take it away and make sure the robots are safe?"

"Would you stop it with the robot thing? It's getting annoying."

"What else am I supposed to call them?"

"They're called matoran. Try starting with that," I snapped.

"Okay, okay. They're matoran. Can we just finish what we came here to do already? I'd like to go home sometime in the near future."

I sneered at him and turned back to the wall. Placing my hand on the wall, I found the outline of the coffin and pulled it from the rock. It moved with a loud rumble and in moments the stone casket was in plain view. There was nothing exceptional about it. I would have thought that after all the care that went in to the others, this coffin would surely have had some sort of decoration. But this was nothing more than four stone slabs with a lid.

"Either she wasn't well liked, or she seriously got ripped off by the undertaker," Hunter mused. For once, I was inclined to agree with him.

"Shall we?" I said, putting both hands on the lid.

"Ladies first."

Without another moment's hesitation I pushed the lid off the coffin, and we peered inside. Chills went down my spine as I peered down at the skeleton inside. They always looked so calm when people did this sort of thing in movies. That might have had something to with the fact that they knew it wasn't real. As I looked at the figure, I could see a significant bulge around the area where her hands might have been placed when she died. There was an ornate cloth placed over the bulge that hardly looked ravaged compared to the rest of the clothing. I didn't know what this fabric was, but it had to have been durable to last as long as it did. I removed the cloth to see what was beneath, and as soon as I did there was sudden pain in my skull that I knew all too well. That voice, that evil thing that was locked away in my pendent felt something dark.

"_There is great evil here. How delicious," _it said.

I immediately threw the cloth back of the object and backed away from the coffin. So there was a reason it was here. I didn't get a good look at the object, but I didn't need to now. I knew it was bad, and looking at whatever it was wasn't going to change that fact. The headache quickly subsided, and the voice was gone. I found it odd that it had left so suddenly. Did it have something to do with that cloth? How was that possible?

I thought back to the story Yori had told me about how the first Guardian received his dragon heart. He had said something about a wizard making it possible. Was this more magic? Was everything surrounding the Guardians magic? I was beginning to wonder if there would be an end to this sort of thing.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Hunter asked, coming to my side.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it," I said, catching my breath. Keeping the darkness at bay was still a challenge I had yet to master.

"What is this?" he asked and moved to remove the cloth again. There was no avoiding it, so I quickly removed the medallion from my neck and placed it in a pouch on my hip. Without direct contact with it, it couldn't harm me or anyone else.

With one danger out of the way I moved back toward the coffin. With the cloth now removed it was now easy to see what was hidden beneath. It was a figurine similar to those that were on the shelf. This one was in the shape of some sort of large cat, a cougar of some sort I guessed. It didn't look very harmful. It was just a statue. What sort of trouble could it cause? What had it caused that required for it to be sealed away? And why was it so active now?

"Is that it?" I asked.

Hunter checked his device and nodded. "This is what's causing the readings. I wonder why? It doesn't look very special to me," he said as he picked it up and looked it over. "Look here. There's an inscription on it. I don't recognize the language."

"It's probably an old European language, maybe old English. Let me see it," I said holding out my hand.

He gave it to me and I looked on the bottom where he had pointed out the inscription. But this was not old English. The symbols were quite clearly matoran in origin, but the words were unfamiliar to me.

"It must be an old matoran dialect. I recognize most of the letters, but I can't understand what it says. Turaga Nokama will know what is says. She's quite adept with languages," I said and handed the artifact back to him.

"Let's get out of here then. This place is giving me the creeps. Who knows how many more of those skeletons are down here," Hunter said.

"Don't remind me. Come on," I said, and we made our way back up to the first level. We stepped back to the hole where we had fallen through and with the rocks that had fallen with us I formed a platform for us to stand on and lifted us back up through the hole.

I led us back to the entrance of the cave where Yori was laying down waiting for us. It was then that I realized just how much time had gone by. I knew we had started late in the day, but it was already dark outside. How had so much time passed so quickly?

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked absent mindedly.

"That and a whole lot more. I'll tell you about it later," I said. "Why don't you go down and grab us some firewood. We'll camp here for the night and return in the morning."

"Hold on second," Hunter said. "Why don't we go back now? It can't be that late. Those elders are probably still waiting for us. We should leave now, settle this thing."

"Traveling the jungle at night is dangerous. It's better to wait 'til morning. Don't worry. The Turaga won't do anything until we get back. Besides, it's been a long day. We all need some rest," I tried to explain.

"But he's a dragon. How dangerous could it be for him?"

"There are plenty of creatures down there that would love to attack him at night. He's not invincible, and he can't see in the dark. It would be stupid for us to try going now. Just relax. One night in a cave isn't going to kill you."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he held back whatever comments or complaints he had prepared. At least he had some idea of when to end an argument.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it took so long to get this one out. Homework has been eating away at my life recently, so I hope the length of this one helps to make up for it. I don't know when the next one will be ready. Hopefully before Christmas, but I don't know for sure. Anyways, leave me a review or comment. I don't know what you think unless you say something.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Yori had quickly brought back half of a tree and had it cut and split in a matter of minutes. While I got the fire ready at the cave entrance I gave Hunter permission to explore the caves. I didn't really want him snooping about and getting lost, but that was better than having him stand around and nag or complain at me.

After piling up some kindling in a teepee shape and some larger twigs on top of that, I grabbed two stones that served as excellent flint and started banging them together to get a few sparks. It was easier just to have Yori give me a little flame and ignite it from there, but there was no fun in that, no challenge. Besides, I was an experienced fire maker after spending three years with one my friends on camping trips. She had called me her apprentice and made me work my way up from observer to tender, which had taken about two and a half years to do; she was very protective of her fires. The summer before I had crashed here I had finally been promoted to fire starter. I had to prove myself ready by starting a fire with day old embers before my friend considered letting me start from scratch, but it was well worth it. I struggled hard to get that first fire going, and it nearly went out several times before I really got it going, but it had been one of my greatest successes at the time. Over the past two years I had gotten plenty of time to hone my skills, and I was confident enough to say that I had probably surpassed my teacher. I only wished she could have seen me now.

After several strikes I got several good sparks which lit my kindling. With a little coaxing and a few more sticks that progressively got larger, the fire grew large enough to support several small logs that would sustain it for some time. I smiled at my latest success and sat back to enjoy its warmth.

After a quick glance down the tunnel to see if Yori was nearby I pulled out a small pouch from my back pocket. In it were half a dozen herbal cigarettes. Normally the herbs could be burned as an incense to relieve stress, but they could also be smoked for a more immediate effect. Yori didn't exactly approve of it, said it was unhealthy. So far there hadn't been any noticeable side effects, and my regular checkups hadn't revealed anything wrong with my respiratory system. I admit that I preferred the incense method, but at times like this I needed something a little more immediate.

I pulled out one of the cigarettes and pocketed the rest. After pulling a small flame from the fire I lit the cigarette and took a deep breath. It had minty smell and aftertaste making it pleasant to intake. As I exhaled the smoke came out with slight green hue before dissipating. Already I could feel the tension in my body beginning to relax and took several more puffs.

"You know I don't like it when you do that," I heard Yori say from somewhere in the darkness. I should have known he wouldn't be too far away.

"Last time I checked, I was allowed to make my own choices. That hasn't changed all of a sudden, has it?"

He walked up and lay behind me as per his usual position. "No. I'm just making sure you know my opinion on the matter."

"Your opinion has been noted every time you've said something about it. How many times does this make it? Twelve?" I asked sarcastically.

"Twenty three," he replied.

"You actually keep count?" I asked with a bemused expression.

"Only to torture you," he said with a smirk.

I leaned against him and took a long deep breath. His torture method was fairly effective if not annoying.

"Do you know where he wandered off to?" I asked thinking back to the fact that Hunter had yet to return.

"He found his way to the history room."

"Did you educate him at all?"

"He's hardly worth the breath," he said, lowering his head.

"I know it's not a great thing that he's here, but do you have to be that cold with him? Teaching him a thing or two might help a bit."

"I doubt it. He's ignorant, arrogant, and he smells funny. I don't trust anything that smells that bad," he said, wrinkling his nose.

I chuckled. "The smell might have something to do with the fact that you put him in your mouth. Your breath isn't exactly a bed of roses. You know, you didn't have to do that."

Yori grumbled. "I thought maybe if I scared him, it might help him leave faster."

"Considering that he looked like he was about to wet himself the first time he saw you and still didn't want to leave, I doubt sticking him your mouth was really that productive."

"I wouldn't have had to do any of that if you hadn't been so careless," he retorted.

"I wasn't trying to start a fight," I said defensively. "I was just trying to observe them, assess the situation. I hadn't planned on the stupid branch breaking."

"That wasn't all I was talking about. You waited too long again. If you keep missing your transfusions there's a chance you'll–"

"I know, Yori," I snapped. "You don't have to lecture me every time. I know the risk I'm taking. But if I don't push the limit no and then, I'll never be able to get more time in between, and that could become crucial in the future. If I can keep adding a few extra hours, even an extra day or two, it could save me if we run into a crisis where there's not enough time to do a transfusion."

"Maybe, but it's not just your life you're risking. It's mine, too. If you die, I'm not far behind."

I sighed in frustration and leaned my head against his scaly hide, shutting my eyes in hopes that the situation would magically disappear. It didn't.

"I know, Yori. I'm sorry. It just…it just feels like I've finally found a sort of freedom, finally learned how to accept and use it to its fullest, and yet, it's like I'm slowly losing it, and the only way I know how to keep it is to test all my limits, go as far as I can then push it that extra inch."

Yori lowered his head to lie next to my lap. My hand found its way to his muzzle and began stroking it like a person would a dog. It was habitual for us and seemed to be relaxing for the both of us.

"I don't mean to scold you. I just can't help it. Sometimes I still can't help but think of you as that little human who was always getting into trouble with the next dangerous thing she could find just because she could. I forget now that you actually are thinking about it, but you still manage to get into trouble anyways with your clumsiness," he said with a small chuckle.

I smirked back. "You know you wouldn't be able to love me any other way."

"That's true," he mused.

I looked over to the cloth wrapped statue that I had set aside. I still wasn't sure what else to do with it. Was it safe for us to let it leave the island? Could it be destroyed? What would happen if it was? One thing was certain: it was evil. If there was some sort of dark energy inside it, could it be released by destroying it? It had already caused a reaction with my pendant once. There was no telling what would happen if it was allowed again.

"Yori," I said.

He turned one of his dark eyes up to meet my gaze. "Hmm?"

"What do you know about a tomb for the Guardians?" I asked. I had to know if he had been keeping this secret. And if he was, why?

"There isn't one. Any graves that there may have been weren't marked. They could be anywhere. Why do you ask?"

"Because we found that statue in a giant tomb. There were rooms for every Guardian including the first one. You didn't know it existed?"

He lifted his head suddenly to look me straight on. He seemed genuinely surprised. Could he have honestly not known about it? If he didn't, did Frost?

"I had no idea it existed. I've never heard of such a thing. Where is it?"

"It starts about ten feet down and keeps going for at least another five stories. It's hard to tell," I said.

By the look on his face, his thoughts had to be racing a mile a minute.

"I have to talk to Frost. He never said anything about this. Maybe he didn't really know about it? Maybe he just thought it was a rumor. There has to be some sort of explanation for this," Yori began to ramble.

"Tonight isn't the best time to do this, Yori," I said trying to calm him. "I want answers just as much as you do, but they're going to have to wait until we get the current problem resolved."

He didn't look entirely satisfied by this, but it was enough to placate him for now.

"I didn't realize you smoked," Hunter said, his sudden presence pulling us back to reality.

I took one last long breath from the cigarette before throwing it into the fire and added another log to it.

"I didn't realize that was any of your business," I said coldly.

"I guess it's not," he said and took a seat by the fire. "I just didn't realize tobacco grew here."

"It doesn't. I don't smoke that gross stuff. It's herbal, helps me relax."

"Don't see what you're so stressed about. It's not like your life is hanging on a thread," he said with a sharp tone.

"Do you honestly think that's what any of us want?" I demanded. "We don't take pleasure in death or suffering, but our safety must come first. It's obvious you and your friends have little regard for that, so if this is the only way to keep them safe, that is what will be done."

"Maybe you don't want to see us dead, but what about him and his kind?" he asked accusingly at Yori. "I saw that room with the pictures. Those dragons turned on the humans and killed them, and everyone knows from every story ever told that dragons aren't exactly cute and cuddly. They're monsters who don't care much for creatures they see as food."

Yori snarled and stood, unfurling his wings in an aggressive stance. "You dare accuse us of being the monsters? It was your kind that forced us into exile! We vowed to protect your ignorant race, and this is how we were repaid! If there is anyone here who does not care for other creatures, it is you!"

"Yori, stop!" I ordered. I could not blame him for his anger. My own was near boiling over, but scolding and berating would do little good. It was all too obvious that he was adamant about his ways, and no amount of lecturing would ever change that. "He's not worth it."

He slowly lowered his wings and brought his head down, closing the distance between him and Hunter. "If the Turaga decided to have you executed, I will be more than happy to cut out that shriveled up thing you call a heart," he growled and walked away. I looked after his retreating form, using every fiber of my being to restrain myself.

"How do you put up with him?" Hunter finally asked.

I turned back to him, a cold stare in my eyes. "He doesn't spout off about things he does not understand," I said coldly.

"What do you mean? You've seen those pictures. Dragons hunted the humans to extinction here. His parents were probably murders and taught him the same thing. Who is it that doesn't understand now?" he snapped.

"It's still you, and it always will be you. You don't care, don't want to understand what it was that happened here. Maybe it will be better if you just took your friends and left."

"That's the first sensible thing you've said all day."

I was so angry in that moment I didn't even know how to fully express it. There were very people I had ever disliked enough to want to cause bodily harm to. He was probably my greatest exception. I looked down to the pile of wood and immediately blew it out of the cave and sent it tumbling back to the forest floor. I then erected a wall in front of the entrance, leaving only a small crevice to let the smoke escape.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"You better hope that fire keeps you warm the rest of the night. And don't try to escape. There are more dangerous things out there than me or him," I said and walked away, erecting a wall behind me to keep him trapped. Looking back on it, I thought maybe it was a bit harsh to treat him so roughly, but he had certainly deserved it. I was beginning to think his only purpose was to annoy the hell out of me. If it was, then he was definitely succeeding.

I followed Yori to his cavern where he typically slept and laid down between his forelegs, snuggling close to his chest. This was a norm for us whenever I slept there since no matter how warm the cave may have gotten, I still got cold. He laid his head to the side, a frown still curving his features.

"Try not to let him bother you. He's a stupid boy," I said, trying to comfort him.

"Stupid people can be taught. You were, remember?" he said.

"Thanks for the compliment," I said sarcastically.

"Well, you were. But you were taught otherwise because you wanted to be. He's just arrogant and ignorant. That can't be taught out of someone," he grumped.

I couldn't help but agree with him. I had thought there was some hope for the boy and his friends, but at the rate he was going they would end up being trapped here, and then I would have to deal with him for the foreseeable future. That was not something I was looking forward to. With an uneasy mind I finally laid my head in the crook of Yori's arm and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning I awoke feeling more rested than I had in several days. For the first time, there were no nightmares. I wanted to take that as a good sign, but it also meant that there was no more warning. Whatever danger had been predicted was already upon us, whether it was these strangers or not.

Yori was still snoring away, and let him stay that way. I was sure he didn't want anything to do with Hunter, and would be happier if I took him back alone. I stood and returned to the entrance of the cave and lowered the wall I had erected. Hunter was already in a sitting position staring at the still covered statue.

"Hope you slept well," I said and lowered the second wall.

"No thanks to you," he grumbled.

"That's the least that you deserved for what you said last night," I said, staring outside to see how high the sun was. It was still fairly low in the sky, but it was high enough that Le-koro would be bustling with people.

"Look, about what happened yesterday," he started, his tone taking a more civil, humble tone than before, "I'm sorry about everything I said. You were right to be angry with me. I said a few harsh things that I probably shouldn't have."

I turned and stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "A few?"

"Okay, so just about everything I said was probably an insult in some way or another. That's not the point. The point is I'm sorry. This is all just so new and strange for. It's how I deal with it. I shouldn't have said those things about your dragon. I'm sure he's not like that."

I was mildly interested in what he was saying, but I was also wary that he might be lying to help save himself.

"I know you still hate us, or at least mostly me, but if you can find it somewhere in your heart, I hope you can forgive me a little, and maybe we could start over somehow," he said and raised his hand out to me.

I stared at for a moment as if it were a poisonous animal before realizing he wanted to shake on it. I wasn't too keen on this idea. I still didn't trust him, but maybe there was still some hope for him.

"We don't shake around here," I said mildly. He looked a little disappointed as he lowered his hand. "Around here, when we give our word on something, we like to believe that the other person will keep their word. We don't pacts, signs, or contracts. If you truly mean what you say, then I'll take you at word."

He looked more relieved at this news and smirked. "I promise, I meant every word of it."

"Very well then. You're apology is accepted. But don't take that to mean you're forgiven. For what you said last night, only Yori can give you that."

"Oh, I see. Maybe you could talk to him for me. I doubt he'll want to listen to me."

"Oh no, Ranger boy. You're gonna have to put on your big boy pants and go talk to the big scary dragon yourself."

"Who wanted to talk with me?" Yori interrupted.

We both turned and stared at his looming figure. Hunter took a large gulp and looked to me nervously for a moment before approaching Yori.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was too harsh, and spoke without thinking. Can you ever forgive me?"

Yori lowered his head to stare him in the eye, his face mere inches from Hunter. Hunter looked like a scared rabbit ready to run away, but he held his ground. His eyes narrowed on him for a moment before snorting and walking past him.

"Don't think that this means you can ride," he threw over his shoulder as he approached the entrance.

I smirked knowing that Yori had at least forgiven him somewhat, but I didn't expect him to all of a sudden get warm and fuzzy with him. I was still a bit angry at him too, but it was all a step in the right direction.

"Don't tell me you're gonna try eating me again."

"Hardly. You taste horrible," Yori said and stuck his head outside. Moments later Kidril flew through the entrance.

"Hey, kid," I greeted as he furled his wings. "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in weeks."

"That's because you don't come up often enough," he said.

"You do realize it's freezing up there, right? I don't do so well with cold."

"You have a coat."

I smiled and chuckled at him. "All right, Kidril. I'll try to be up more often."

"He can take you back," Yori said gruffly.

"Okay, what'd he do to get Mr. Grouchy Pants upset?" Kidril asked.

"He's not the only one upset. Let's just get going. We've kept the others waiting long enough," I said and mounted Yori.

"So, uh, how do I get on exactly?" Hunter asked, staring at Kidril.

"You ask permission first," Kidril said, narrowing his gaze. "It's rude to just hop on a stranger's back."

"Relax, Kidril. Just help him along," I said with a wink. He seemed to get my hint as he stared at Hunter with a smirk.

Yori then took off, Kidril right behind as Hunter started yelling. Kidril had him be the ankle and was carrying him through the air upside down.

"This is not helping me!"

"Would you relax. Enjoy the ride," I called back to him.

"You're not upside down!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Yori, take us down a bit. Get under him." Yori did as told so that I was almost at eye level with Hunter. "So you really want to ride?"

"I'd prefer that to this!"

I laughed and said, "Kidril, that's enough. Help him up."

Yori pulled up from beneath him as Kidril gained some altitude and threw Hunter into the air. As he began to free fall, Kidril descended with him just a few feet beneath him. Yori pulled over close enough for me to yell, "Grab on."

He looked down at Kidril's spine before reaching out and grabbing one of his spikes and pulled himself down on Kidril's back between his shoulders. Kidril then pulled up and we slowed down to a gentle glide. Hunter looked positively terrified as he kept a death grip on Kidril's spike.

"See, it's not so bad up here," I said. He looked over and glared at me for a moment with a not-so-amused stare. I couldn't help but smirk. This was too much fun. Maybe it was a bit wrong to be taking so much pleasure from torturing and teasing him like this, but he'd had it coming to him. Hopefully he wouldn't take it too personally.

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**AN: Yay for updates! School is finally out and I might be able to get another chapter or two up before school starts back up again. Anyways, let me know what you think. I can't know unless you tell me.**


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